Worldwide, WEEE constitutes one of the fastest growing waste fractions generated, accounting for 8% of all municipal waste. This trend increases the environmental burdens consequently action on WEEE is an urgent need in nowadays. The paper outline the current status of the management of the WEEE across the European Union.waste from electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE Directive, the responsibility principle

TARTIU Valentina Elena

English

Research Papers in Economics

  The Ninth International Conference 
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009        Economia seria Management 
 
218 
 
The management of waste from electrical 
and electronic equipment (WEEE) 
in the European Union
1 
 
 
Managementul deşeurilor electrice 
şi electronice (DEE) în Uniunea Europeană 
 
 
Valentina Elena TÂRŢIU, Ph.D. Student 
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania 
e-mail: valentina.tartiu@man.ase.ro 
 
 
Abstract 
Worldwide,  WEEE  constitutes  one  of  the  fastest  growing    waste  fractions 
generated,  accounting  for  8%  of  all  municipal  waste.  This  trend  increases  the 
environmental burdens consequently action on WEEE is an urgent need in nowadays. The 
paper outline the current status of the management of the WEEE across the European 
Union. 
 
Keywords: waste from electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE Directive, the 
responsibility principle 
 
 
    Rezumat 
La nivel mondial, deşeurile electrice şi electronice înregistrează o creştere rapidă, 
reprezentând 8% din totalul deşeurilor municipale generate Acest trend generează efecte 
negative asupra mediului, în consecinţă gestionarea corespunzătoare a deşeurilor electrice 
şi electronice este o cerinţă urgentă. Lucrarea prezintă succint stadiul actual al gestionării 
deşeurilor electrice şi electronice la nivelul Uniunii Europene. 
 
Cuvinte-cheie:  deşeuri  electrice  şi  electronice,  Directiva  privind  deşeurile 
electrice şi electronice, principiul responsabilităţii 
JEL Classification: Q53, Q56 
 
rbanization and growing demand for consumer goods, have increased the 
consumption  of  electrical  and  electronic  equipment.  A  broad  range  of 
goods is classified as electrical and electronic equipment, including large 
and  small  household  appliances:  computers,  computer  games  and  peripherals,  mobile 
phones, video and audio equipment,electrical tools, portable electronic devices, and so on 
(Balakrishnan Ramesh Babu, Anand Kuber Parande and Chiya Ahmed Basha, 2007). 
U The Ninth International Conference  
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
 
 
Economia seria Management    Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009 
 
219 
Once these products reach the end of their useful life, they become WEEE or 
waste from electrical and electronic equipment. 
WEEE has been defined as any equipment that is dependent on electric currents or  
electromagnetic fields in order to work properly, including equipment for the generation, 
transfer, and measurement of current (Schafer, van Looy, Weingart, and Pretz, 2003). 
Waste from electrical and electronic equipment is a rapidly growing waste stream 
in Europe. Significant  amounts of WEEE have been consigned to landfill, taking up space 
and leaving behind environmentally damaging toxic substances. 
In response to the increasing volumes of WEEE and their potential  environmental 
impacts,  the  European  Commission  has  developed  legal  instruments  for  waste  from 
electrical and electronic equipment, one of this is: European Union’s Waste Electrical and 
Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. 
The directive seeks to contribute to the protection of human  health and to the 
environmentally  sound  recovery  and  disposal  of  WEEE  (Balakrishnan  Ramesh  Babu, 
Anand Kuber Parande and Chiya Ahmed Basha, 2007). 
The  implementation  of  the  European  Union’s  Waste  Electrical  and  Electronic 
Equipment (WEEE) Directive has resulted in 27 different pieces of legislation with varying 
definitions, obligations and agreements (Huisman, Magalini, and Kuehr, 2008). 
For some EU Member States, the transposition of the Directive into National law, 
and  the  development  of  take-back  schemes  and  recycling  infrastructure  were  relatively 
easy, as  already legislation and recycling infrastructure were present  prior to the Directive. 
In  other  Member  States,  in  particular  in  Central  and  Eastern  Europe,  both 
legislation and infrastructure were less  developed than in Western Europe. 
Difficulties  with  the  implementation  arose  as  a  result  of  the  complexity  of 
involving  all  relevant    stakeholders  actively  and  agreeing  on  responsibilities.  These 
difficulties  have  contributed  to  delays  in  the  legal  transposition  and  practical 
implementation of the Directive (Sander, Schilling et al., 2007). 
The  27  different  transpositions  and  interpretations  of  the  WEEE  Directive  are 
leading to high costs, disorder, delays and lost focus on the original environmental intent 
(Huisman, Magalini, and Kuehr, 2008). 
In their national legal texts, Member States take a variety  of approaches when 
allocating responsibility which are summarised in Table 1 (Sander, Schilling, et al., 2007). 
The current situation regarding the physical and financial responsibility across the 
EU Member States is presented in Figure 1 and Figure 2 (Chris van Rossem, 2007) 
The main concerns regarding the WEEE management in European Union Member 
States are related to the fact that (Chris van Rossem, 2007; Huisman, Magalini, and Kuehr, 
2008; Sander, Schilling et al., 2007; Review of Directive 2002/96 on Waste Electrical and 
Electronic equipment, 2008): 
￿  WEEE Directive is only transposed. 
￿  Collective systems are the only ones operating, while individual systems are 
delayed and untested. 
￿  There  are:  different  reporting  procedures  and  requirements,  different 
registration  procedures  and  requirements,  differences  in covered categories 
and offered services, different country models of WEEE directive level that 
increases costs and creates avoidance behaviour. 
￿  Recovery targets not consistent with sales.   The Ninth International Conference 
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009        Economia seria Management 
 
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￿  There is little research available on why certain (national) collection schemes 
are  more  effective  and  efficient  than  others  with  regard  to  overall  costs, 
achieved collection amountsand recycling percentages. 
￿  The current target of 4 kg is for some Central and Eastern Member States (for 
example Romania) too ambitious, at least for the next few years. 
￿  There is little attention to prevention, reuse and re-design in practice. 
 
Increasing harmonization between Member States can improve compliance and 
avoid free-riding. Additionally, enforcement is essential to avoid free riding and illegal 
exports, low quality of treatment and to provide positive incentives for collection.  
 
 
 
 The Ninth International Conference  
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
 
 
Economia seria Management    Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009 
 
221 
 
 
Figure 1. Allocation of Physical Responsibility for Collection of WEEE 
 
 
 
Figure 2. Allocation of Financial Responsibility for Collection of WEEE 
 
   The Ninth International Conference 
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009        Economia seria Management 
 
222 
References 
 
Balakrishnan Ramesh Babu, Anand Kuber Parande, Chiya Ahmed Basha (2007). Electrical 
and  electronic  waste:  a  global  environmental  problem,  Waste  Management  & 
Research, .307-318  
Chris van Rossem (2007). Implementation of WEEE Directive in the Europe Union: Some 
experiences  to  date.  Retrieved  20.02.2009  from:  http://www.iiiee.lu.se/site.nsf/ 
wwwpages/CABCDF39A22F89B4C125737000316144/$File/02%20Chris%20EPR%2
0for%20WEEE%20in%20Europe.pdf 
EUROPA’s  Studies  on  WEEE,  Site  of  European  Commission:  http://ec.europa.eu/ 
environment/ waste/weee/studies_weee_en.htm 
Huisman J., Magalini, F., and  Kuehr, R. (2008). Where should WEEE change? Retrieved 
20.02.2009  from  http://files.step-initiative.org/download.php?sess=0&parent= 
232&expand=1&order=name&curview=0&id=930. 
Review of Directive 2002/96 on Waste Electrical and Electronic equipment (2008), Final 
Report,  Study  No.  07010401/2006/442493/ETU/G4.  Retrieved  20.02.2009  from 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/weee_review.pdf 
Sander K., Schilling S. et al. (2007). The Producer Responsibility Principle of the WEEE 
Directive, Final Report. Retrieved 20.02.2009 from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ 
waste/weee/pdf/final_rep_okopol.pdf 
Schafer, T., van Looy, E., Weingart, A. & Pretz T. (2003). Automatic separation  devices in 
mechanical  recycling  processes.  In:  Proc.  International    Electronics  Recycling 
Congress,  13–15  January.  Retrieved  20.02.2009  from  http://www.iar.rwth-
aachen.de/www/upload/Publikationen/download/2003  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                
1  Lucrarea  este  rezultatul  cercetării  în  cadrul  proiectului  "Modelarea  sistemului  de  gestiune  a 
deşeurilor de echipamente electrice şi electronice din România în vederea optimizării impactului 
economiei digitale asupra mediului", cod ID_1834, director conf. univ. dr. Nadia Ciocoiu 

Anand Kuber Parande, Chiya Ahmed Basha

Review of Directive 2002/96 on Waste Electrical and Electronic equipment (2008), Final Report, Study No. 07010401/2006/442493/ETU/G4. Retrieved 20.02.2009 from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/weee_review.pdf

The management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the European Union

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The management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the European Union

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